Gone, Not Forgotten
by satomobile
Summary: This takes place after the end of Book 1. There are plenty of memories to relive when this family gets together, but some are easier than others. Varying degrees of Linzin/Pemzin/Linumi.


Bumi's rough hands ran along the smooth wooden crate, marveling at its contents. In a small, dark closet, inside his mother's home existed a little box of treasures. Memories stored on celluloid just waiting to be relived. There was a plethora of film inside this crate along with a few records stored in yellowing paper sleeves.

He reached in, pulling out one reel of film marked "_Kya b. 18 Dec. 116 ASC._" A smile crossed his face, thinking of how diligent his father must have been, cataloguing the events of their lives. He reached in again, coming up with one that was simply labeled "_Wedding_" and then another "_Bumi Ice doging_" with three underlines to emphasize the excitement. There were more than a dozen film reels in this crate, some with specific labels and others with more cryptic annotations.

"_Tenzin Airwheel_"

"_Cliff Dive 24 June 136ASC." _

"_appa"_

"_Aang bday 137ASC."_

The reels of film were stacked high; nearly spilling from their container and Bumi smiled widely at them all as he considered the most obvious place the projector might be stored.

"Hey, Commander," Korra's singsong voice called from the hallway. She leaned into Katara's bedroom to look for any sign of him, bracing herself with hands placed on either side of the doorway. She spotted his rear end sticking out of Katara's closet and let out a small chuckle at the sight, "dinner is ready."

Bumi emerged from his mother's bedroom closet, film reel in hand. He made his way to the Avatar hopefully asking, "Do you know what this is?"

"Well, it looks like film," she replied, lifting one eyebrow with a hint of sarcasm. Bumi let out a laugh and then a sigh. It was a foolish notion and his head shook once to clear it from his mind. Just because she was the reincarnation of his father, didn't mean she was going to display an attachment to his old belongings.

"Right you are, Avatar," he sighed looking back down at the film reel in his hand. He gathered a breath and walked back to the closet, hoisting the crate of film reels into his arms, "these are coming with us."

Korra nodded, "What's on the film?" she wondered leading the way back down Katara's hallway to the dining table.

"Home movies. Just us kids growing up," he explained, "Tenzin with hair."

Korra let out a laugh, "I have to see this."

"Oh this is happening, don't worry," Bumi returned as they made their way into Katara's dining room.

It was a full house, packed with the overflow of Amon's revolution. They all came to the South Pole looking to be healed after their safety and in some cases; their bending, had been stripped from them. They took refuge in the home of their matriarch who provided them each with a comforting feeling and now that the worst had passed, a delicious meal and a family atmosphere to boot.

Everyone was settling into their seats for dinner as Katara moved back and forth from the kitchen delivering steaming bowls of food to the table. Offers to help were chorused around the table, but Katara continually dismissed them.

Bumi entered the room, drawing attention to himself with the large crate in his arms. He plunked it down right between his two siblings, causing them to jump slightly. The entire dinner party went silent, turning their attention to the calamity he created. The only sound in the room was Rohan's soft gurgling as he lay along Pema's chest.

"Bumi I swear," Kya warned, giving him a threatening look before taking in the crate. Her expression changed then to pure excitement, "are those what I think they are?"

"Yep," he quipped dipping his hand into the pile to collect a few samples, "we got all the classics here; Kya loses a tooth, Mom and Dad's wedding, Tenzin learns to walk," he listed them off merrily until he reached one in particular that gave him pause, "oops not that one," he mumbled, setting the reel aside.

His unwillingness to share caught the attention of his younger brother, who was keen, even at the age of fifty-one, to needle his older sibling, "What?"

Bumi shrugged casually, moving the film reel out of Tenzin's reach, "Nothing."

The rest of the table joined in, chorusing Tenzin's curious plea, "what are you so embarrassed to show us?"

"Yeah, Uncle Bumi! What is it?"

"Don't be embarrassed," Korra's mother, Senna chimed in playfully.

Bumi waved them off, setting the reel back onto the pile. Tenzin swiped it quickly from the top, smiling in triumph as the entire table laughed and cheered his success. Pema leaned over her husband's shoulder to read the label herself just as he turned it in his hands and opened his mouth to announce the title of the film.

As soon as Tenzin's light eyes processed the words, his face fell and his mouth shut. A moment of silence overtook the room briefly as everyone awaited Tenzin's reveal.

"What is it Daddy?" Ikki prodded and Tenzin cleared his throat.

"This is film from a party that your Uncle Bumi made an absolute fool of himself during," Tenzin recovered and the table bubbled with laughter, the wave of gaiety that swept over the crowd somehow missed Tenzin and his wife. Pema sat back in her seat, a poor actor, playing the part of a woman unaffected by the words she read.

Tenzin handed the reel back to his brother, who accepted it with a telling raise of his eyebrows. Bumi set the reel, marked "_T and L Engagement_", back into the crate and moved the box to the floor, taking his seat finally.

The _L_ in question, studied her food diligently on the other end of the table careful to avoid meeting the eyes of her neighbors, telling Bumi she was well aware of what that film reel must be titled.

The discovery of the film reels dominated the dinner conversation and it was quickly decided that the showing of these treasures would be their after-dinner entertainment.

As the ladies helped Katara do the washing up, Bumi and Tenzin were set with the task of pulling the projector out from a tiny crawlspace in the recesses of Katara's home.

They argued, as opposites are wont to do as they set it up in the living room. It was in several pieces and both brothers had very different ideas regarding which end attached to which.

Their bickering was interrupted by a frustrated groan, coming from Lin as she stepped between them, "I can't watch this anymore, it's embarrassing." She pulled one leg of the projector from Bumi's grasp and stretched out her other hand, snapping impatient fingers at Tenzin for the other leg, "Give me that."

He complied, passing it to her and the brothers stood by emasculated as Lin snapped the machine together without a word or a moment of hesitation.

She completed the task with a sigh, "see? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Bumi shrugged, "yeah I mean, it looks kind of wobbly," he commented, giving the machine a small shake.

"It's fine," Tenzin appeased, "thank you, Lin."

She nodded and they looked at one another for a moment, leaving Bumi feeling as if he were being swept away in a swift current of subtext, threatening to drown them all right here in his mother's living room.

Bumi reached out again, giving the projector another shake, "I guess this will do."

It was enough to snap them out of their staring contest and Lin scoffed, "Well if anything breaks you'll have to handle it yourself, Bumi. I'm heading to bed."

"What?" Bumi gaped, "we're just about to start!"

The rest of their large party had begun taking their seats, occupying the large couch and dragging several chairs in from the dining room. Katara entered with a teapot and several small cups dangling from her fingers.

Bumi wasted no time telling on his old friend, "Mom. Lin said she's going to bed. Tell her she can't go to bed."

"Lin is an adult, Bumi she can do what she wants," Katara sympathized, before handing a tea cup to Lin, "but I've made you some tea, have a seat, sweetheart."

Lin sighed, succumbing to the oldest trick in the book. Bumi waggled his eyebrows at her as she took a seat along the floor, teacup in hand. He was well aware that Lin had a historically difficult time saying no to his parents.

Tenzin moved to take a seat beside his wife and children on the couch and Bumi got into place at the helm of the contraption, pulling a reel from the crate that sat beside Lin.

"Okay," he announced, "first up is Kya's birth."

He began setting the reel into place and paused, looking back at his mother as if he'd just remembered something gravely important, "this doesn't have anything on it I don't want to see, right?"

Katara ticked her head, laughing quietly.

"Good. Korra could you dim the lights?"

The Avatar moved to the side of the room, flicking the switch and the room went dark. A bright light emanated from the projector as the motor came alive, turning loudly.

The film was silent, and it jumped quite a bit at first, but rectified itself in short order, displaying a very close shot of a newborn baby's face along the wall.

Everyone cooed at the sight of her and the camera pulled back, showing a very exhausted and rather young Katara lying back in bed, sweat plastering strands of dark hair along her forehead. She was saying something, but her words were lost to time. She cradled the baby in her arms, smiling widely as a few tears slipped out the sides of her eyes. Bumi looked back at his mother, sitting in a rocking chair, and noticed her eyes were clouding with tears even now.

The image was jolted, and the camera was moved into another's hands as Aang came around to show his daughter off to the world. He held loving hands out, displaying his wife and daughter as if they were the most exciting things in the entire world; the glisten in his eyes reflected the truth of his feeling.

"There is your grandfather, kids," Katara explained looking from her husband's youthful face back to the cherubic smiles of their legacy.

Aang's mouth moved a mile a minute and Meelo finally wondered, "What is he saying?"

"I'm not sure," Pema informed him in a motherly whisper, "this was made before cameras had the ability to record sound."

"Katara- I wish I looked that good after giving birth," Senna added and the room chuckled.

The camera was closed in on Aang now, bouncing his new daughter gently. His eyes were shining with unshed tears and it seemed as if he couldn't stop looking at her face adoringly for more than a couple seconds at a time.

He was talking to someone just out of the picture and he finally moved to hold her out, offering her up to the person off camera. The camera moved a bit more, shaking all the way until it landed on the petite frame of Toph, looking exceptionally young with crossed arms and a head that swiveled back and forth in protest.

"Lin!" Kya smiled, "I always forget how tiny your mother was."

Lin nodded from the floor, watching her mother's clouded eyes as she refused to accept the squealing newborn. She was so alive then and her mannerisms and quirks were easy to identify in the image. It was the subtlest movement of her jaw as she spoke, and the unmistakable way in which she shifted her weight that grabbed Lin in the present and took her back to a time in which the image of this dead woman was very much tangible.

Katara let out a small laugh from behind, "Toph was so afraid of dropping her," she explained, "babies certainly made her nervous back then. If only she would have known- she'd have her own in just a couple years!"

Lin smiled back at Katara, but Bumi saw it fade as soon as she turned back to the projected image. He watched her watch the film for a moment before her head turned away ever so slightly so that nobody would notice she'd stopped looking. Bumi glanced up at the film to find that Toph was now holding the infant Kya and talking to the person behind the camera.

The image jumped again as the camera was switched to show Toph carefully handing the baby off to Sokka. He smiled and made a feint as if he were about to drop her- laughing as he steadied himself. His face fell and it was easy to tell he must have been getting a mouthful from his sister.

"That is still not funny," Katara added from her chair.

There was a frustrated groan from the couch, "Don't we have any movies where people talk? This is boring," Meelo huffed.

The adults in the room got a kick out of his honesty and Bumi agreed, "You make a good point, little guy."

He knelt down to reach into the crate just beside Lin, digging through the reels and records until he found a reel of film whose label corresponded to a record, "How does cliff diving sound?"

There was an enthusiastic cheer from the children and Bumi stood, setting up the new reel. He held the record out to Lin, "would you mind putting this on?"

She looked up at him, annoyed by his request. After a moment she begrudgingly stood, taking the record from his hand and making her way to the phonograph.

"Let's hope this synchs up," Bumi exhaled, snapping the projector to life, "the date on this one is 136- I must have been…around eighteen or nineteen."

The image was jumbled, but as soon as the Lin dropped the needle of the phonograph the room filled with a familiar sound.

"_Sweetie?"_

It was Aang's voice; an echo from the past and the entire room fell silent at the sound. Katara's eyes filled with tears as she listened.

"_Sweetie are you watching?"_

The image corrected itself along the wall to reveal Aang's hopeful eyes staring just past the camera. He was in his late forties at least, but his expression was full of happiness and youth.

"Yes, sweetie," Katara replied, quietly from her chair.

"_I see you Aang, what?" she responded, a little less patient in the past. _

_Aang laughed, "Check this out!" _

_He ran from the camera in the direction of the cliff's edge jumping up just as he reached the drop-off. He spun, kicking up a cloud of dust with his feet, with another loop the dust arranged itself to read "A + K" inside a heart. It lasted for only an instant and just as Aang blew a kiss back in the direction of his wife, gravity won its fight against the airbender, pulling him down and out of sight. _

_There was a loud stomping of feet, gaining speed and Bumi's image tore past the camera, gripping his knees to his chest as he went over the edge. His eyes closed tightly- prepared for the drop, but a gust of wind kept him suspended, holding his legs awkwardly in mid-air. _

"_Let me fall, Tenzin," he grumbled. _

_There was a burst of laughter from the side and a teenage Lin and Kya both appeared on the edge of the picture, clutching their stomachs as they giggled. Tenzin appeared beside them a moment later, cupping his ear, "What?" _

"_Let me fall, T!" Bumi demanded, a little more furious this time. _

_The laughter rose and Katara finally appeared, "Tenzin, let your brother down." _

_He dropped from mid-air a moment later. _

"Daddy is that you?" Jinora wondered and Tenzin nodded.

Korra looked over with a smirk, "Rocking the hair look Tenzin, not bad."

"I got my tattoos later that year," he explained calmly just as Aang's enthusiastic voice returned to the room.

_Aang was dripping wet, leaving small puddles in his wake, "Okay, Toph it's your turn." _

"_Fuck no," she replied simply from where she sat atop a rock, wearing no swim gear to speak of. _

Tenzin instantly covered Meelo's ears and Pema cringed, looking down at her young daughters.

"Oh Toph," Bumi laughed, "…how I miss that woman."

Korra and her friends muffled their mischievous laughter and Lin sighed, "That's my mother."

"_I'll take that as a no," Aang laughed lightly, "what about you, Chutnu?" _

The use of that name made the backs of many adults in the room stiffen. An uneasy feeling settled among them, though many of the younger in their group didn't seem to notice.

_Tenzin shrugged, "I'm ready." _

"Daddy?" Ikki questioned, "What does Chutnu mean?"

Tenzin shifted nervously, but Pema took up the explanation, "Well, honey- you remember learning all about reincarnation right?"

"Like how Grandpa Aang's soul is inside Korra?"

"That's right," Pema chirped, "well the Air Nomads had a word for special circumstances in reincarnation and one of those words is Chutnu. It's for when the spirits decide to split one soul into two separate bodies," she explained.

"Oh," Ikki nodded, "then what happened to the other half of Daddy's soul?"

Pema smiled and opened her mouth, but quickly shut it when she caught the movement of the film out of the corner of her eye.

_Lin hopped onto Tenzin's back and Aang cheered, "Alright, Chutnu, let's see how much air you can get jumping like that!" _

Pema's jaw set when she realized Aang's nickname for her husband did not apply to him singularly.

_Tenzin ran forward, laughing so hard that he had trouble picking up speed. Lin, whose legs encircled his waist, echoed his laughter. _

"_Don't drop me, Airhead," she managed to say through their shared laughter. _

_The whole crowd laughed at the sight of the pair, encumbered by one another, "You're going to trip, Tenzin!" Aang called after them. _

_He did trip, but it was at the last minute and the two of them went tumbling off the edge of the cliff with a scream. _

"Mom?" Ikki asked again.

There was a rustling from beside the projector and Lin rose, exiting the room without a word. They all watched her go and the mood shifted noticeably. Ikki dropped her line of questioning and Bumi finally cleared his throat.

"How about different reel?" he asked brightly, dipping back into the crate to retrieve the film of his parent's nuptials. This was a decidedly safer event and he swapped the two reels, placing their cliff diving adventure back into the crate, trapping it where it belonged- firmly in the past with the rest.

His father's voice continued to fill the room and Bumi made his way to the phonograph, lifting the needle. The image of his mother preparing for her wedding day appeared on the wall and everyone began chatting about how lovely she looked. The mood eased, though Bumi could see Tenzin's jaw continue to clench and release anxiously.

When the focus of the room was fully returned to the film, Bumi made his exit, quietly walking down the hall to the guest room. He knocked the door lightly and it swung open with a creak to reveal Lin folding her clothes neatly along the edge of one of the bed.

She looked up at him and then back down at her task, lifting some of her folded clothes into a bag.

"Hey," he began, leaning against the doorjamb.

She looked up again, coldly, "Hello."

"I hope you aren't planning on making a break for it," he laughed as she continued to pack, "we just got here."

Her head ticked once before she looked up again with pursed lips, "I'm taking the first steam ship back to Republic City in the morning."

"Beifong…" he led playfully. She neglected to respond so he repeated himself in an even sillier tone of voice, "Beifoooong…."

She zipped her bag and looked up, one eyebrow arched- daring him to continue. But Bumi had called her bluff before and he pressed on, "You can't go- nobody else here will drink with me."

"I wasn't aware you had a policy against drinking alone," she returned, looking at his small beer-belly pointedly.

His lower lip jutted forward in a pout, "a girl in Omashu told me it was cute," he explained, rubbing his paunch fondly.

Lin watched him skeptically, lifting her nightclothes, "Do you mind?"

"You can change in front of me," he offered, waggling his eyebrows. Lin's eyes narrowed and he put his hands up in surrender, "Yeah okay. Okay."

Bumi pulled the door closed, leaving the hall to duck back into the kitchen, retrieving his bottle of hot sake, now cold, that he had originally purchased to keep him warm in the freezing white south.

He made his way back to Lin's room, tapping the door with the edge of the bottle, "Knock knock."

She didn't reply and he pushed the door open to find her fully dressed in her sleepwear, "I could have been changing."

"Yeah, my luck isn't that great."

She rolled her eyes and he entered, holding the bottle out, "to awkward family events."

Lin looked at the floor and then back to Bumi, telling him solidly, "my family is dead, Bumi."

He reeled back, exasperated, "how melodramatic can you get?"

She shook her head, glaring, "It's the truth. This isn't my family anymore, Bumi," she shrugged, "I don't belong here. I'm just making everyone uncomfortable and honestly, it's making me uncomfortable."

Bumi sighed, shrugging his shoulders casually, "If you feel uncomfortable imagine how Pema is feeling. Ouch."

Lin's eyes rolled again, but the corner of her mouth turned up slightly. This small change didn't get past Bumi, who waved the bottle in her face in response, "want to talk about it?"

"No," she replied, snatching the bottle from his hand and popping the lid open to take a swig. Bumi punched the air in celebration, falling back on the bed and rolling to his stomach to prop his face up with two hands.

"I love girl talk," he quipped in a feminine voice.

"I hate you," Lin replied, but she said it with a laugh as he batted his eyelashes in her direction.

She took a seat on the bed, sitting cross-legged beside him, taking another sip, "This is cold."

"Cold sake for a cold broad," Bumi mused, taking the bottle from her hands to take another gulp.

"What was on that film reel Tenzin stole from you at dinner?" she asked.

"Your engagement party," he sighed and she nodded.

"I figured as much," she smiled a bit, looking distant before she said, "well he wasn't lying- you did make a fool of yourself at that party."

"That is your interpretation," he countered, "I think there is a quiet dignity in the decision to relieve myself off the side of the cliff. I'm not beholden to societies' conventions and morays."

"Right," Lin patronized, lifting the bottle from his hands.

"Also, I didn't know anyone was looking."

Lin nodded, taking another sip, "you do know how to liven a party."

Bumi sat up, folding his legs to mirror her, "Case in point," he agreed, spreading his arms to indicate the upset he had caused by finding the film reels.

Lin waved him off, "It's nothing you did. I should have just left after Korra restored by bending. I don't know why I stayed."

"Because my mother made you?" Bumi ventured.

Lin laughed, "I suppose that may have had something to do with it," she sobered herself, "but I should have gone. This isn't my life anymore."

"I hate to break it to you, but you're kind of stuck with us. Just because you and Tenzin aren't together doesn't mean you aren't family. You're like my sister. Like a sister that I'm not technically related to so it's totally cool if something happens between us…" Lin lifted an eyebrow as he continued, "…or not. You know, whatever. Anyway- I'm sure you've got someone to keep you occupied."

Lin's cheeks flushed and Bumi jumped on it instantly, "You do!"

She shook her head, "nobody. It's nothing really."

"'It' can never be nothing, 'it' denotes the presence of something," Bumi explained.

"How wise," Lin appeased.

"My Dad was the Avatar you know…." Bumi continued with a laugh.

The mood was lightening with each sip, with each friendly confidence. Lin explained that her most meaningful relationship since Tenzin was one that only took place during election season and Bumi bested her by admitting there was a woman he thought he was in love with, but she'd married another and moved to Ba Sing Se.

They swapped stories of heartbreak and humor, laughing until they cried when recalling events or a person from their teenage days- faces reddening with laughter and alcohol as the time wore on.

Eventually they heard the party in the other room disband as everyone made their way to their rooms or homes. Katara poked her head in, giving them both a motherly warning about getting some sleep.

They continued on with their party for two regardless, acting like a couple of pre-teens at a slumber party.

It was around three in the morning when Lin began to drift. She was still replying to Bumi's words, but her responses became more questionable with each passing second.

"Sometimes I just think- what is the point, you know?" Bumi asked, looking to Lin to find her fast asleep. He sighed, standing to stretch. He leaned back down pulling the blankets over her carefully, confident their connection had convinced her to stay put and enjoy the rest of their time together.

Quietly, he made his way into the darkened hallway, which was very nearly silent save the whirring sound that hummed in from the living room.

Bumi followed the sound, correctly assuming that someone must have left the projector running. As he approached the edge of the room he could see Lin's smiling face lit up along the wall. The phonograph was turned low, but Bumi could hear the faintest echoes of her young voice.

_She wore a white silk dress with a high collar and gold embroidery adorning the fabric. She stepped backward as tradition dictates, to ward off any dark spirits that might loom over this happy occasion. _

_ "Is it considered cheating if I use my seismic sense?" she asked aloud with a cheeky grin as she moved tentatively. _

_ "The spirits don't know the difference," Toph joked from the sildelines as Lin continued to place one foot behind the other. They both laughed and the momentary distraction proved consequential as Lin ran right into her fiancée, who caught her by the waist and smiled, kissing her on the cheek._

_ The surrounding party-goers clapped and hollered. Bumi distinctly heard his father's voice explain that he knew this day would come all along, toasting his very own karmic anomaly, "To many happy years, Chutnu." _

Bumi peered into the living room as the footage of Lin and Tenzin's engagement ran along the far wall. He spotted his brother, alone, looking utterly exhausted but entirely transfixed by the film.

"I guess the spirits noticed," Bumi said, announcing his presence. Tenzin jumped, startled.

"What?" Tenzin asked, attempting to regain his bearings.

Bumi nodded at the projected image, "I guess the spirits noticed that she used her seismic sense."

Tenzin looked from his brother, back to the film and sighed. His mouth opened and closed as if were forming some kind of explanation for his late night viewing, but he declined to give it.

"Is she...how is she?" he asked finally.

Bumi shrugged, "She'll be hung over in the morning, but she's fine. She was thinking about leaving, but I talked her out of it."

Tenzin nodded, standing to make his way to the projector, he gave Lin's youthful face one last lingering glance before he snapped the projector off. Bumi lifted the needle from the phonograph and Tenzin made his way to join his brother in the darkened hallway as they walked to their rooms.

"Bumi," Tenzin whispered just outside the door to his own quarters, "if you wouldn't mention…."

"Your secret is safe with me, T," Bumi confirmed.

Tenzin nodded gratefully, bidding his brother goodnight before disappearing into the room where his wife slept. Bumi continued down the hall, finding his own room with relief and throwing himself into the bed. He slept well, secure in the knowledge that he'd managed to boost Lin's morale and convince her that she would always belong in their family.

When he woke the following day, her room was empty and she was gone.

* * *

**A/N: This fic goes out to AmiraElizabeth on tumblr for keeping me motivated and creating such wonderful works of Linzin art! You are amazing! Secondly, the term chutnu is a Nepali word, meaning to sever. It doesn't have the exact connotation in reality as it does in this story, but after talking about it with my Nepali friend- it was decided this was the closest word for my purposes here. I hope you all enjoyed this and I apologize if it was difficult to follow. If you have any tips about how to successfully write flashbacks etc, please leave them in the review box! **


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